Never Challenge the Bird
by Liza Cobbler
Summary: The new guy at Gotham Academy thinks that he is the best thing ever, and Dick takes it upon himself to teach him a lesson. One-Shot. Robin-centric.


**I went to an Acrobatic Circus and was amazed. And I though of Dick. And then I wrote this. I'm thinking of extending this to a series of one-shots with Dick pwning different people. So, tell me what you think!**

**-Liza**

* * *

Dick walked into Gotham Academy with his hundred-dollar backpack thrown over one shoulder. He reached up to pull the blazer of his stiff uniform down straight and headed for the courtyard. His best friend, Barbara Gordon, was sitting on their usual bench. Her red hair fell over her face as she finished the science homework due later that day. Dick allowed himself to smile; it was wonderfully nice to have something normal to look forward to each day. Especially because each night his life was as far from normal as it was possible.

Each night Dick dressed in a Kevlar-lined uniform, packed hundreds of lethal weapons, and protected Gotham's streets with Batman. Dick was Robin, the Boy Wonder. As the Boy Wonder, Dick traveled all around the world, faced insane villains who wanted him dead, and hung out with his super-powered friends. Yes, Dick's nights were far from normal.

But today didn't appear to be normal either. Just as Dick started to smile, he frowned. A boy, about 16, sat down with Barbara and started talking to her. A bubble of jealousy appeared in his stomach. He smashed it down.

"Barbara!" he called to her. She turned and smiled, the boy did not.

"Dick!" she greeted as he walked quickly to them. The boy sized Dick up.

"Why are you hanging with this loser?" the boy asked Barbara, arrogantly. "You're pretty. You can do so much better."

That ruffled Dick's feathers. "I'm sorry," Dick asked. "Who are you?"

"Teap, Jake Teap." The boy stood up. Dick recognized the name and wanted to groan. What was a _Teap_ doing at his school?

Jake continued to boast without any invitation. "I'm a famous acrobat. My family has been performing for generations and is one of the best in the business. My father wants me to get a formal education. He's looking at sending me to this school."

_Bing_

Luckily, Dick was saved by the bell. He headed to class hoping that Teap wouldn't decide to come to Gotham Academy.

.

"Hey, babe." A voiced said from behind Dick and Barbara. They looked up to find Jake Teap standing there. In the month since his visit, Dick had forgotten that he may transfer to his school. "It's your lucky day."

"And why is that?" Barbara asked.

"Because, my father has decided to allow me to come to this school and now you get to see me each and every day." This time, Dick really did groan.

"You gotta problem with that, pip-squeak?" Jake asked, trying to be menacing. It didn't frighten Dick in the least. Though, after facing Joker, Two-Face, an angry Batman, and an angry Alfred – especially Alfred – not much frightened Dick. But to keep up appearances, Dick tried to look scared.

"No, no, I just remembered that the essay on _Madame Bovary_ is due Friday." Jake stared Dick straight in the eye for a moment.

Barbara broke the quiet with a groan. "I _hated _that book. Emma was such an idiot. What is your thesis on, Dick?" The two started talking about their latest English book, while Jake stood around cracking lame jokes and making horrible pick-up lines to Barbara.

And so the trio continued for a couple of weeks. Dick trying to ignore Jake and hold on to his normality, Jake successfully ignoring Dick while hitting on Barbara and constantly bragging about his "skills", and Barbara trying to make peace between the two unusually thick boys.

"Dick, why can't you try and be friends with Jake?" Barbara tried one day.

Dick replied. "Babs, he's a Teap!"

"So?" Barbara said, confused.

"If you'd grown up in the circus, you'd know who the Teaps are." At her obvious confusion, he elaborated. "The Teaps _are_ famous acrobats. They're actually pretty good. But the fame went to their heads. They strut around every circus like they own it."

"So, they're as good as your family?"

Dick gave a little laugh. "They are nowhere near the level my family was on. They are more wide spread and surly better known, but any circus person knows that the Flying Graysons were better than them by far."

"Why don't you work out with him sometime? You are both acrobats, it should be interesting." She suggested. "Does he even know that you're an acrobat?"

Dick shrugged, "Probably not, or he'd either be asking me for tips or trying to give me tips. And I'd kind of like to keep it that way. Anyway, what did you get for problem 34…"

Barbara let the conversation drop after Dick's not-so-subtle subject change. Another week passed with the three continuing their previous interaction. To Barbara, Dick seemed happy to ignore Jake and try and live their usual life. Sadly, Dick was not at all happy with this arrangement.

Not happy at all.

He was not happy when he caught Jake badmouthing a teacher. He was pretty unhappy when he saw Jake show off during Gym. He was extremely unhappy when he caught Jake picking on an Elementary student.

The final straw was when Dick caught Jake bragging to a group of students about how he had saved Batman and Robin's life and that they begged him to join their duo (which was a complete lie).

"Teap!" Dick called angrily. "If you're such a good acrobat, then you should be up to a little challenge."

"What type of challenge, Shorty?" Jake asked as the other students laughed.

"You and me, a game of Acrobat HORSE." Dick challenged. Jake froze, and then his eyes narrowed. Dick knew that he was treading in dangerous water now. Jake may not have known that Dick was a circus boy, but he did now. Within circus circles, Acrobat HORSE was a pretty common game. It was played similar to Basketball HORSE, but instead of shooting baskets, the players did acrobatic stunts.

"Whatever, Shorty. When and where?"

"After school. Gym." With that Dick stalked off.

The rest of the day passed quickly and Dick soon found himself in the gym. He looked around at the different places that would be best for their challenge. The school was one of the nicest in the countries, so the gym was equipped with a gym sized floor mat, balance beams, and even some uneven bars. Dick felt confident, even though he was best on the trapeze, these other areas would give him enough options to beat Jake.

"So, Shorty, you actually showed up?" Dick turned to face Jake. Jake had changed into his gym clothes as well.

"Let's just get this over with. You first."

"Alright, Shorty," Jake took off for a running start and did two back handsprings in succession and ending with a front flip. Dick quickly copied him perfectly.

It was now Dick's turn to challenge. He chose to head to the balance beam. Dick agilely hopped onto the beam and did two cartwheels along it and a double back flip onto the floor. Jake did the same.

After looking around, Jake went over to the uneven bars. He jumped up to the highest one. After gaining momentum, Jake flung himself to another bar doing a flip along the way. He then dropped in front of Dick.

Jake looked smug, "Try that, Shorty." Dick just shrugged and vaulted up to the highest bar. He easily copied Jake's motions. Jake's face was no longer smug, but angry and determined.

Dick glanced at the clock on the wall. He needed to wrap this up quickly. If he missed meeting Alfred in front of the building at their designated time…he shuddered to even think about it.

Dick leaped back onto the uneven bars. He swung up on the second highest bar until he was holding himself above the bar in a handstand. Then, swinging down, he launched himself into a triple back flip before grabbing the lowest bar. Jake was staring in shock.

"Your turn." Dick said. Jake jumped up to the bar and tried copy Dick's stunt, but couldn't hold the handstand for as long and was only able to do two back flips on the launch. Jake now had an "H".

It was Dick's turn to challenge again, since Jake couldn't copy before. He went back to the balance beam. Starting on the floor, he did two back hand-springs and landed on the bar. He then did a couple of flips and cartwheels. He ended with full-twist back layout, sticking the landing back on the floor.

Jake again failed to copy Dick's challenge. Jake missed the beam when he was doing the back handsprings and gained an "O".

Before even allowing Jake to catch his breath, Dick went sprinting across the floor. He did a hand-spring and went straight into a half-twist layout. Dick landed and went immediately into a back flip and then did a few more stunts before stopping.

This time Jake almost copied Dick's movements. He copied everything, but failed to stick the landing. He fell instead on his behind.

Offering a hand to Jake, Dick pulled him up to his feet. "You now have H-O-R, and it's my turn again."

"Where did you learn all this?" Jake asked. He wasn't answered because Dick had already taken off again. This time, he went back toward the balance beam. Dick flipped up to the beam and started his stunts. Jake watched with dread. He knew that he couldn't do that. Dick ended by vaulting off the beam, fifteen feet into the air and doing some twists before landing on his feet.

Dick gestured for Jake to copy him and Jake shook his head. "I can't do that." He said. "And I'm not risking my neck trying."

Dick gave him a genuine smile, the first Jake had ever seen aimed at him. "Great. H-O-R-S, all I have to do is one more routine." Jake already knew that Dick was going to do something awesome and terrifying. So he just watched as Dick went back to the uneven bars. Dick then did part of his favorite trapeze/uneven bars routine that showed off most of his skills. He flipped and twisted, spun and showed strength and balance. Dick finished after a few minutes.

Dick vaulted forward and dropped right in front of Jake. Jake just shook his head.

"You really are something, Dick." The boy said. "Where did you learn all that stuff?"

Dick just shrugged, "Grew up in the circus, like you. Never quit practicing after I left."

"You really are good. If you ever want to go back to the circus, you'll be able to get a job at ours."

"Nah, I'm pretty happy right where I am." Dick answered.

A new voice startled the boys. "Grayson, Teap, what are you doing here?" Coach Hanton said as she walked up to the two boys.

"Nothing, Coach," Dick said. "Just playing a friendly game."

"Well, I've got to lock up, so you boys need to leave." The two grabbed their bags and headed back into the main hallway of the school. They walked down the hall in a comfortable silence. Suddenly, Jake stopped short. One look at his face, and Dick knew that Jake had figured him out.

"Wait, _Grayson_…?" He asked, astonished. "As in _Richard_ "Dick" Grayson?"

"That's my name, don't wear it out!" Dick quipped.

Jake suddenly appeared ashamed. "I-I'm so, so sorry! If I'd've known- "

Dick cut him off. "That shouldn't have mattered. You should have treated everyone with respect anyway."

Jake had the decency to look even more ashamed. He thought about all of the kids he had looked down upon. Looking straight into Dick's eyes he made a promise to himself and Dick. "I'll try in the future."

"Good." Dick started towards Barbara who was waiting for Dick.

"Wait!" Jake called him back.

"What?"

"Can I have your autograph?" Dick just shook his head and walked to Barbara. She was coming over to work on homework, so they got into Alfred's car together.

After pulling out of the school's parking lot Barbara looked over to Dick.

"What was that all about, Dick?"

"Oh, nothing, Barbara. Just teaching a lesson to the new guy."


End file.
